HARDWICK – The Hazen Union boys soccer team had their three-match win streak snapped with a couple of tough shutout losses to Thetford Academy and Harwood last week.
Henry Trage scored the only goal of the match to help Thetford escape with a 1-0 road win over the Wildcats last Tuesday. Trage collected a through ball from Eben Zoerheide midway through the second half and got behind the Wildcat defense, capitalizing on a rare mistake from Hazen goalkeeper Grayson McNaughten. The senior has undoubtedly been one of the best keepers in the Capital League this season, coming into this matchup with three straight shutouts, but experienced a goalkeeper’s worst nightmare on the game-winner credited to Trage. McNaughten came out of his box and was caught in no man’s land as Trage bore down on him, overrunning the ball and missing on a last-ditch effort to clear the ball away as Trage finished in front of an empty Wildcat net. Cody McKinstry and Asa Williams combined to make nine saves to preserve the shutout as the Panthers improved to 6-3. McNaughten and Chayse Newell combined to turn away 10 shots in the loss.
“We were just a half step off from each other in the first half. Too many unforced turnovers early on set up a high tension second half. We matched up very evenly with them and not taking advantage of this match creates an uphill battle for us the rest of the season. We need to regroup, rethink and improve our preparation to make sure we aren’t needlessly giving the ball away in the midfield,” said head coach Harry Besett.
Felix Kretz scored a pair of first half goals to power Harwood to a 3-0 home win over Hazen on Friday. Cole Shullenberger added an insurance goal in the second half and Sebastian Binkerd added an assist as the Highlanders reeled off their sixth straight win. Shelden Frank recorded two saves to preserve the fifth shutout of the season for the Harwood defense. The two-time defending Division II champs look poised to be a contender once again later this month, improving to 7-2-1 on the season. McNaughten made nine stops in the loss for Hazen.
The loss dropped the Wildcats to third in the current Division III standings at 6-3-1. A challenging schedule against some of the top teams in the Capital will test Besett’s upstart squad down the stretch in their quest to secure a home playoff match.
The Wildcats travel to Montpelier on Wednesday to take on the top team in Division II before wrapping up the week with an 11 a.m., Saturday match-up with U-32 at Hudson Fields. Hazen welcomes Peoples Academy to town next Tuesday on Senior Night. All home games can be streamed live on Hardwick Community Television (hctv.us).
